]]>Practical counseling of PGDAST at SC-2708http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/47
Click here for details]]>Corrigendum : Extension of Last date to 24-07-17 for Tender for Hiring of Taxi on Monthly/Daily basis.http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/46

]]>Practical Schedule of Study Centre - 2708 (U.P. College)http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/45
Click here for details]]>Corrigendum for Revised Tender for hiring of taxi for Monthly/Daily basishttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/44
Due to some unavoidable circumstance the Tender Documents for hiring of Taxi for Monthly/Daily basis those last date of submission were 11-04-2016is extended till 22-04-2016. The tender document will be opened on 25-04-2016 at 02:30 P.M. All other terms and conditions of the Tender Documents will be same.

]]>Tender document for the disposal/sale of waste study materials/prospectus/itemshttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/43
Click here for details]]>Tender document for the hiring of taxi on monthly/daily basis for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/42

]]>Induction Meeting Schedule January 2016 Session for RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/40
Click here for details]]>Corrigendum for Tender opening date for hiring of Security Guard Agency and Manpower Agencyhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/41
Due to some unavoidable circumstance the Tender for empanelment of Security Agency & Manpower Agency those were proposed to be opened on 07 March 2016 has postponed. Now the Tenders will opened on 16 March 2016 on the same time.]]>Corrigendum for Revised Tender for hiring of Security Guard Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasi-date extendedhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/39
Click here for details]]>Corrigendum for Revised Tender for hiring of Security Guard Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/38
Click here for details]]>Corrigendum for Revised Tender for hiring of Security Guard Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/34
Revised Tender]]>Corrigendum for Tender for hiring of Manpower Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/35
Revised Tender for manpower]]>Corrigendum for Tender for hiring of Manpower Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/36
Revised Tender for manpower]]>Corrigendum for Tender for hiring of Manpower Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/37
Revised Tender for manpower]]>Tender document for hiring of Manpower Agency for IGNOU RC Varanasihttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/33
Click here for more details]]>Tender Document for Providing Security Serviceshttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/32
Click here for more details]]>schedule of B.Ed./M.Ed. workshop http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/31
click here for details]]>Offer Letter and Counselling schedule of B.Ed. for January 2015 sessionhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/30

]]>Tender inquiry Inviting offers for Hiring of Office Spacehttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/15
Click Here For Details]]>List of Students for BCA /MCA Project Viva on 4th August 2013(Sunday)http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/14
Click Here For Details]]>Tender for providing taxi on monthly basis for office usehttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/13
Click Here For Details]]>OFFER OF ADMISSION FOR B.Ed. PROGRAMME COMMENCING FROM JANUARY 2013 SESSIONhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/12
click here for details]]>Schedule for B.Ed 2013 Counsellinghttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/11

]]>On-Demand Exam in IGNOU expands furtherhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/8
Starting with two certificate level programmes nearly one and half years ago, the scheme of On-Demand Examination has, now, been extended to more than 135 courses covering more than 30 programmes in Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

The students can take benefit of the scheme of On-Demand Exam in all courses of Bachelor Preparatory Programme (BPP); all elective courses of Bachelor in Tourism Studies (BTS), Bachelor of Commerce(B.Com), Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), Bachelor in Arts (Economics) (BA-Eco), Bachelor Technology in Mechanical Engineering (BTME), Master of Commerce(M.Com), Masters of Arts- Tourism Management (MTM)(Cat-2) five foundation courses of and eighteen Application Oriented Courses of Bachelors Degree Programme (BDP).

The facility of On-Demand Examination is also available in different courses of several certificate level programmes including Advanced Certificate in Power Distribution Management (ACPDM), Certificate in Business Skills (CBS), Certificate in Consumer Protection (CCP), Certificate in Environmental Studies (CES), Certificate in Nutrition and Child Care (CNCC), Certificate in Guidance (CIG), Certificate in Teaching of English as a Second Language (CTE), Certificate in Organic Farming (COF), Certificate in HIV and Family Education (CAFE), Foundation Course on Education of Children with Disability(FCED), and Certificate in Tourism Studies (CTS); and different courses of several diploma level programmes including Diploma in HIV and Family Education (DAFE), Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education (DECE), Diploma in Nutrition and Health Education (DNHE), Diploma in Tourism Studies (DTS), and Post Graduate Diploma in Food Safety and Quality Management (PGDFSQM). Many more programmes are going to be added under this scheme very soon.

IGNOU started a flexible and learner friendly scheme of examination, called “On – Demand Term End Examination” nearly one and half years ago. The scheme is an innovative provision for the students who could not find time to appear at examination of all the courses of a programme, in one go. In this scheme of examination the students who have completed the minimum stipulated study period and submitted their assignments can now choose the date of examination as per their convenience and preparation and need not to wait for six months for term end examinations. This is a boon for those who have failed or could not appear in any paper for some reason or the other.

In addition to the six monthly term end examination in all its courses, presently, the IGNOU is providing the facility of On Demand Examination to its students in 135 courses covering about 30 programmes.

For On-Demand Term end Examination, the student has to get himself/herself registered in advance on-line through IGNOU website for which he has to pay a nominal fee. The procedure for payment of fees is also very simplified and flexible. If exam fees is paid by credit card, the Hall Ticket is generated instantaneously and the student can take its print out. Registration fee can also be paid through bank challan and bank draft in favour of IGNOU.

In that case an acknowledgement receipt is generated immediately and the student is required to submit the original bank challan or bank draft along with a copy of the acknowledgement receipt at the concerned Regional Centre. As soon as the bank challan or bank draft is received at the Regional Centre, the registration will be confirmed the information of which will automatically be sent to the student’s account which can be accessed by him/her using his/her registration number allotted at the time of on-line registration and he/she can then take the print out of his/her admit card.

Another important feature of the scheme is that the result of On-Demand-Examination will be announced soon after the examination. This will help the students whose maximum period is about to expire or whose career progress needs immediate result. However, the certificate or degree will be issued along with the result of the term end exam. For availing the facility of On-Demand Term End Examination, the students have to ensure that they fulfill the eligibility criteria as set for the term end examination
for that course or programme.

The scheme is expected to improve results and eliminate the possibility of malpractices in the examination as the entire process of registration, paper generation and result preparation is computer based and examination is carried under camera surveillance at the Regional Centres of IGNOU in direct custody of the Regional Director. It will thus help the genuine students in completing the courses as per their convenience.

To begin with the examination was being conducted only at the two Regional Centres of IGNOU at Delhi. But keeping in view the students’ demand, the facility of On-Demand examination was extended to five more Regional Centres at Jaipur, Karnal, Chennai, Cochin and Madurai also.

But very soon, due to the increasing demand of the students, it has now been further extended to eight more Regional Centres of IGNOU including Hydearabad, Ranchi, Koraput, Bhuneswar, Aizwal, Jammu, Dehradun.and Jabalpur. Thus, the facility ofOn-Demand Term End Exam is now available at 15 Regional Centres of IGNOU,which is likely to be extended to other parts of the country. For appearing in the examination, the students will have to come to the exam centre on the date and time selected by them. They are necessarily required to bring the Hall Ticket issued at the time of registration and original identity card issued by the university.

Students desirous of going for On-Demand Term End Examination can visit theIGNOU website www.ignou.ac.in, or contact any of the Regional Centres of IGNOU or e-mail: odexam@ignou.ac.in or contact the Coordinator, On-DemandExam on phone: 011-29573068, 29573069]]>Register for SMS Alert http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/2
Click here for registration]]>Limited Quotations for Toner Cartridge for Samsung ML-1666http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/3
Click here for details]]>National Seminar on the History and Cultural Aspects of Mathematics Education (at IGNOU, 2-3, December, 2011)http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/5
Click here for details]]>Re-admission in BEd Programmehttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/1
Academic Council of Indira Gandhi National Open University in its 56th Meeting, held on 27th May 2011 has approved the following:

i) As a one time measure, old students of BED Programme belonging to 1999 and 2000 batches and the students from later batches, who missed the opportunity of Re-admission in left-over Course of BED, can avail Re-admission from July 2011 to January 2013 Cycles (Last TEE will be June 2013) after paying Pro-rata Fee @ Rs. 1600/- per Course.

ii) The students of BED who could not complete the programme during the maximum available period even after re-admission, shall not be eligible for re-admission. They need to seek a fresh admission as per the laid norms for a new applicant (appear in entrance exam and get merit position as per available number of seats). After completion of admissions as a fresh student, he/she will be permitted to apply for Credit Transfer from the old enrolment @ Rs. 100/- per completed course.

]]>Audition Test for casual announcers/presenters for Gyan Vani (Date: October 31 and November 01, 2011 from 10.00 AM)http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/announcements/1/detail/4
Click here for details]]>Former VC Dr Khan conferred Honorary Doctoratehttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/100
Dr Abdul Waheed Khan, former Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by Wawasan Open University (WOU), Malaysia.

The Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) has been awarded in acknowledgment and recognition of Dr Khan as a self-made man, visionary, leader, educationist and achiever in education, particularly global distance education.

At present, Dr Khan is serving as President, Talal Abu Gazaleh Business University, Kingdom of Bahrain and Senior Adviser, Arab Open University.

Prior to this, he served as Assistant Director General for Communication and Information, UNESCO, Paris for nearly a decade (July 2001 to June 2010). He joined the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in Vancouver, Canada, firstly as Senior Programme Officer (1992-1995), then as Acting Head of the Communications and Information Technologies Division (1995-1996) and as Principal Communications Specialist (1996 - 1998). Dr. Khan also served as a Visiting Professor/Scientist (1990-1991) at the National Institute of Multimedia Education (NIME) in Chiba, Japan.

Dr Khan assisted Open and Distance learning institutions in developing Commonwealth countries, particularly in Africa, to develop human resources in educational media. He returned to India in 1998 to take up the position of Vice Chancellor of IGNOU (1998–2000).

During his tenure, he was responsible for strategic planning, resource mobilisation and management of a knowledge network, which includes a consortium of 72 universities. He was also Chairman of the Distance Education Council (DEC), which is responsible for coordinating all Open and Distance Learning programmes in India. He was also responsible for launching an educational broadcasting network of television and radio.

Dr Khan is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the Rajiv Gandhi National Integration Award (1998), Commonwealth of Learning’s Distinguished Service Award (1998), Super Brain of India Gold Award (2000), India Millennium Award for Education and World Peace (2000), Honorary Doctorate of Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi (2005), Dayawati Modi Foundation Award for Art, Culture and Education (2006), Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (2008) and Kempelen Medal of the Slovak Technical University (2009).

]]>ISRO to focus on education, health: Dr K Radhakrishnanhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/101
The major future thrust areas for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be in food and water security, weather and climate, environment and ecosystem, sustainable development, support for informed decision making, education and health care, skill development and rural communications, as well as disaster management, said eminent scientist and ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan.

Dr Radhakrishnan was delivering the 11th Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Silver Jubilee Lecture titled 'ISRO Saga Forward' at the University's Convention Centre on October 25.

While elucidating upon ISRO's vision for the next 20 years, Dr Radhakrishnan said that the organisation will focus on space applications, space exploration, space assets and access to space.

“ISRO is working on GSAT 5P and RISAT-1, the satellite Aperture Radar, which enables the satellite to look at the earth even in the presence of cloud cover,” he said, adding that ISRO is making efforts to put the man on the moon.

Calling both ISRO and IGNOU examples of “learning organisations,” the eminent scientist discussed India’s space programme from 1963 till present as well as its vision for the future.

“In the 1960s, India was facing several problems, like illiteracy. Hence the focus was on how communication satellites could be used to solve these immediate problems. This vision was shared by the entire organisation and other successors of Dr Vikram Sarabhai,” said Dr Radhakrishnan, adding that the Indian space programme is a society- driven one.

Stressing on the need for good minds, Dr Radhakrishnan spoke about ISRO’s Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology at Trivandrum. “The batch of B.Tech students will pass out in June 2011. Those getting good grades will be absorbed in the institute,” he remarked.

In his address, Vice Chancellor Professor VN Rajasekharan Pillai said, “ISRO and IGNOU have been interacting for the past 15 years using satellite capabilities for education and health sector. Dr Kasturirangan, former Chairman of ISRO, has accepted the ISRO Chair at the University. Further collaborations between the two can improve the quality of education and its reach to the remotest parts of the country.”

Pro-VC Dr KR Srivathsan was the Discussant for the lecture.

]]>IGNOU trains 37 statistical personnel of National Academy of Statistical Administration (NASA)http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/102
The Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU’s) School of Social Sciences (SOSS) and the National Academy of Statistical Administration (NASA) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt. of India organised a training programme on Micro and Macro Economics and its interpretation for its Indian Statistical Service (ISS) Probationers at the IGNOU campus in the convention centre.

Thirty-seven ISS Probationers (8 of 31st batch & 29 of 32nd batch) participated in the training programme. The inaugural session was chaired by Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, Pro-Vice-chancellor, IGNOU and was attended by the faculty members of the School of Social Sciences apart from the participants.

The training was held keeping in view the high quality of the teaching and course structure of the M.Phil/Ph.D programme in Economics being offered under face-to-face mode by the Economics discipline of IGNOU.

“It is for the first time that IGNOU was assigned this important training by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Needless to point out that this is very prestigious programme and has been assigned earlier to reputed institutions like Delhi School of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, etc. Economics discipline agreed to organise this programme,” said Prof. Narayan Prasad, Professor of Economics, SOSS, IGNOU.

During the training programme, 41 lectures (of 62 hour teaching duration) were delivered. Apart from the faculty members of the Economics Discipline, very senior economists of the country like Prof. K.L. Krishna, Prof. B.B.Bhattacharya, Prof. T.S. Papola, Prof. T.C. Anant, etc. were among the resource persons.

Since all the ISS Probationers were not having economics background, the initial 15 lectures were devoted on Conceptual foundation of Micro & Macro economics. A good deal of lectures was delivered on analytical tools also. Finally, a substantial policy related issues like Macro economic debate on ‘New Classical Critique’, ‘New Keynesian Economics’, ‘Business cycle’, Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy, Game Theory, etc. were covered.

A few topics relating to Information Economics like Principle Agent Problems and Moral hazards were also taken up. Yoga and two days educational tour were also part of the training. All the ISS Probationers were evaluated through a written test. The valedictory session was attended by the Deputy Director General, NASA and was concluded with the distribution of the Certificates among the participants.

The feedback about the training programme was obtained from the participants through a feedback questionnaire.

]]>IGNOU-UNICEF sensitise scribes in Madhya Pradeshhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/103
The pilot project of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) with UNICEF which was launched one month ago, has reached its second stage to help increase media discourse on Routine Immunisation to media persons in Jabalpur.

A twenty member team comprising of national, state and district level media visited Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The visit, part of second phase of the UNICEF and IGNOU partnership, raised awareness among media on the low rate of Routine Immunisation and high infant mortality in Madhya Pradesh. At present only forty percent of children get immunised which contributes to the high infant mortality in the state.

The journalists got a first-hand experience about the micro-planning involved in the handling cold chain equipment that maintains vaccines at right temperatures. “The vaccine stores make use of generators in case of power failure to protect the vaccines stored,” explained Dr. Gagan Gupta, Health Specialist, UNICEF and Madhya Pradesh, who was accompanying the media team.

The media persons were also taught small drills for checking the expiry dates of the vaccines through the vaccine vial monitor.

“As a media person, we can share such simple yet effective knowledge with parents and especially mothers,” shared Shivani , one of the participants.

Saroj Paraste, who conveys local news through mobiles from the remote Kundam block, found the visit to village Sarrai, 30 km from Jabalpur very informative. “Our village Accredited Social health Activist (ASHA) personally visits us and ensures that mothers and children come to the Anganwadi centre on the last Tuesday of the month for vaccination.”

The field visit to Jabalpur, one of IGNOU’s regional centres followed the initial media engagement held through videoconference in Delhi.

Over eighty media professionals from Delhi, Bhopal and Jabalpur had exchanged views on the subject of low routine immunisation. Under the IGNOU-UNICEF partnership, IGNOU is providing its strong videoconferencing network to reach out to national, state and district media in strategic and interactive workshops.

“Every day around 5000 children under the age of five die in India. A large number of these deaths are due to preventable causes. Vaccine preventable diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity, disability and mortality among children in many states of India,” informed Tania Goldner, Chief of UNICEF Field Office for Madhya Pradesh It is here that we need media’s support to convey the need of immunisation as well as help to motivate parents for immunising their children,” added Ms. Goldner.

S.N Singh, Director of Journalism and New Media Studies added, “We plan to reach out to media and the wider public in remote regions of the country through special programmes on Routine Immunisation aired on IGNOU’s Gyan Vani radio and Gyan Darshan television channels”.

The field visit in Jabalpur started off by visiting the state-of-the art special care newborn units, set-up by NRHM and UNICEF for saving newborns as well as the cold chain vaccine storage units in the district. The ASHAs and ANM (Auxillary Nurse Midwives) are the connecting link in the last mile for service delivery under the Government’s National Rural Health Mission Programme.

The field visit ended with a visit to the Special Care Newborn Unit (SCNU) at Lady Elgin Hospital. Here the new-borns are provided special medical care to fight diseases. Infants receive their first birth dose of immunization (BCG, OPV and Hepatitis-B) in these units.

“Currently we have 28 (SCNU), though the sanction for all the fifty districts of the state has been obtained. It is a concrete step towards reducing the high neonatal and infant mortality in the state” informs Dr. Gagan Gupta.

UNICEF is working along with the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh to scale up the SCNU facilities throughout the state.

]]>Instructions and Form for Registration of Degrees/Diplomas for 24th Convocation on September 5, 2011http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/104
Click here for Instructions and Form for Registration]]>Admission open for Certificate in PC Hardware & Networking (Last Date : 31-8-2011)http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/105
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]]>IGNOU establishes Centre for Sindhi Language & Culturehttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/106
The Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU's) Academic Council has recommended for starting a Centre of Sindhi Language & Culture in the University in response to the suggestions and special emphasis for the promotion of Sindhi language and culture by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), Govt. of India. The centre will be functional from this academic year onwards.The major objectives of the IGNOU centre for Sindhi Language and Culture are to promote and encourage Sindhi language especially among the younger people who are losing their mother tongue. It also aims to make them conscious of the Sindhi literary and cultural heritage and make them adequately articulate in Sindhi so that they can write in Sindhi and translate into Sindhi from Hindi/English. The center would also help to organiSe such activities to the expert meetings and seminars/workshops that would help the cause of Sindhi language.

“The University’s action plan for the establishment of the centre is to prepare and start a foundation course as part of the Bachelor Degree Programme (BDP) with various components like spoken language, literary language, morphology and grammar (For Sindhi knowing students). It also plans to start different levels of Appreciation Courses in Sindhi for beginners (For non-Sindhi knowing students),” said Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, IGNOU.

“Towards a later stage, the University will also be developing P.G. Certificate and Diploma Programmes and Post Graduate Degree programmes followed by M.Phil. and Ph.D. Programme. It shall also launch translation courses in Hindi-Sindhi-Hindi and English-Sindhi-English and later between Sindhi and other major Indian languages,” he added.

Sindhi is one of the major literary languages of India, recognised in the eighth schedule of the Constitution of this country. It was included in the constitution on 10th April, 1967, after constant and justified demand of the Sindhi people, who migrated from Sindh due to partition of the country in 1947. In due course of time, Sindhis settled in different regions of India, mainly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.Among the modern Indian languages, Sindhi is the only language, which is not an official language of any particular state in India. The Sindh province, where the Sindhi language had its historical growth during the last twelve hundred years, was included in the newly created Islamic State of Pakistan, in 1947. Hence, Sindhi being a stateless language in India, special efforts are required for the preservation and development of its linguistic, literary and cultural heritage. Considering these facts, the Government of India (Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development) started various schemes for the development of Sindhi language and literature. In this direction, National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language was constituted in 1994.

Sindhi Academies were established by those State Governments where Sindhi Speaking people reside in significant number. In spite of these efforts at the Government level, the study of Sindhi language and literature in the field of formal education has decreased to a great extent. The number of secondary schools imparting education through Sindhi medium has been dwindling day by day. As regards Sindhi at graduate level, there is a provision in some colleges only, situated in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi. There are only two universities, viz. Mumbai University and Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, where students can study Sindhi language and literature upto M.A. and Ph.D. levels. Full-time, part-time, distance education and on-line courses will be available to suit the requirements of different categories of learners.

]]>IGNOU invites application for the post of a Project Officerhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/107
IGNOU invites application in Plain paper or throught e-mail for the post of a Project Officer in the grade of a Deputy Registrar (Scale of Pay: 15,600 - 39,000; PB-3, G.P. 7,600) for a period of 5 years to coordinate externally funded Projects.

Qualificaion & Experience:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) with consistently excellent acdemic credentials.

5 years of Managerial and Project Management Experience duly certified and authenticated by the appropriate authorities.

Age below 40 years.

Applications may be mailed to Director, Planning & Development Division (P&DD) at
e-mail : jhaak@ignou.ac.in before 5:00 pm, 20th August 2011

]]>National Sign Language R&D Centre soon at IGNOUhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/108
The activities for the establishment of the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) are taking a concrete shape with the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, announcing major developments in this regard.

“The deaf adults should be able to go to the highest level for which we will be conducting activities in different parts of the country. IGNOU will host seminars and workshops for the empowerment of the deaf people. It for this purpose that we will be conducting meetings once in three months with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and All India Federation of Deaf (AIFD),” he announced during first such meeting with the representatives from these organisations.

Shivaji Panda, Vice President of AIFD, Dr. Omkar Singh, Secretary of AIFD, Mr. Anuj Jain, Joint Secretary of NAD and among others representing the deaf association proposed that for the establishment of the ISLRTC, preference should be given to the deaf candidates for the appointment of the staff to which the VC agreed and said that, “We shall appoint deaf staff on probationary basis for the proposed center.”

The agenda of the meeting was to seek the advice and views of the representatives of the deaf associations in shaping ISLRTC which has been fully funded by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for a period of five years. IGNOU would host seminars to enable AFD and NAD to have their annual meetings in order to share their views with the university.

“Such meetings will be held regularly involving the associations, federations along with the professionals promoting the Indian Sign language and deaf education. Focus will be on research and deaf education across the countries. Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) is also now fairly in agreement with the university,” said Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, Pro-VC.

]]>At IGNOU, soon, choose the paper you want to study http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/109
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Vice-Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai stressed upon the need to be flexible while educating the masses, while speaking on the occasion of Independence Day. He also hoisted the national flag in front of the newly inaugurated Vice Chancellor's office at main IGNOU campus.

The on-campus students spread the feeling of patriotism by performing a street play dedicated to the theme of increasing corruption in independent India while the school children showcased various yoga forms.

“A unique paper-wise registration scheme is under-launch at IGNOU where any knowledge seeker can take any number of papers from IGNOU programmes without the restrictions of age, qualification, pre-knowledge and knowledge and education in the subject,” said Prof. Pillai to the learners.

He also said that, “Efforts are now on for two-way teleconferencing, interactive radio counselling and for relaying educational programmes through local FM radio stations.”

With the launch of paper-wise registration scheme, students can enrol for a paper of their choice out of a programme. For example, if a learner wants to study only the Pubic Relations paper from a full fleged PG Diploma in Journalism and Masss Communication (PGJMC) programme containing four papers, he/she can choose to give examination for just one paper of their choice.

In the previous silver jubilee year, IGNOU has taken much desired step of going into the multiple mode of education delivery. Alongside Open and Distance Learning and on-line approach, it has also started on-campus face-to-face teaching in emerging areas not only at IGNOU headquarters but at other campuses also which have added more versatility and life towards the growth of the university.

“Classroom interaction will bring into focus problems that students might be facing. Community College Scheme, Convergence Scheme, Associate Studentship Scheme, Flexilearn Scheme have further brought education and knowledge in the reach of more learners,” he said.

]]>IGNOU trains teachers to develop online courses http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/110
IGNOU’s Inter University Consortium (IUC) organised a workshop to train trainers from various universities in order to address the change which has struck the 21st century teachers and learners.

The change is the online learning/ teaching experience which has made easily accessible learning/ teaching material just a click away. Many open universities in the world and other traditional universities are developing online courses to enhance the reach of their university’s study materials through videos, web content, internet, satellite or CDROM. Private institutions are also offering online courses. Online education is becoming popular day-by-day, but adapting face-to-face courses for online instruction presents many challenges and IGNOU took the initiatives to address them.

Keeping this new technological development in view, the University feels that the teachers should be prepared to meet the challenges of the future. For this the IUC organised three day training workshop “on how to create /develop online courses”. The training objectives of this three day workshop were to explain and describe the Instructional Design for Online Courses, highlight some of the tools used to create online courses, show some examples of Online Courses offered by IGNOU, understand the Learning Management System, how to publish the course, create an online course using Moodle.

“While designing and developing any online course there are three major areas we should focus on: Instructional Design, Course Management and Instructional Media. The Design should be carefully done and then only development and implementation should come in. There should be judicious use of Multimedia, activities and interactivity among learners so that learning communities can be development for effective online learning,” said Prof. Madhu Parhar, Director, IUC, IGNOU.

The training programme was attended by twenty one faculty members from State Open Universities, Private Universities offering courses through Distance Mode and Faculty of Distance Education Institutes in Formal Universities like Jamia Hamdard (New Delhi), NIMS University (Jaipur), Anna University (Chennai), Karpagam University (Coimbatore), Dr. C.V. Raman University (Chhattisgarh), Institute of Advanced Studies in Education University (Rajasthan), Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth (Maharashtra), Lovely School of Open and Distance Learning (Jalandhar), Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (Guwahati), Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Agra), Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (New Delhi) and UP Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UP).

This training workshop was imparted for awareness and Capacity Building programme to the faculty of universities (Open, Private –offering courses through distance mode) in developing Online Courses. Accordingly, the programme used structured presentations on the new concepts. After the brief presentations, the faculty worked individually on the terminal and explored the usefulness of the new technology for their institution. Training was mainly based on experiential learning methodologies.

“It was a very nice learning experience. Being a technical person I knew that we have to design any system from the base, but I didn’t know that so many people have studies and created different theories. I am very thankful to IGNOU team for explaining all those things,” said Mr. Amit Agashe, a participant from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune. Dr. Ratna Mohan Jha from Rastriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi, another participant discussed about how to develop Sanskrit courses in online mode.

The three days workshop comprised of four sessions per day and started with an overview of online courses in IGNOU by Prof. Uma Kanjilal, Director, School of Social Sciences at the university. She elaborated upon ICT Initiatives at eGyanKosh which is a national repository, initiated with a mandate to store, index, preserve, distribute and share the digital learning resources. eGyanKosh has open access and has emerged as one of the world’s largest educational resource repositories. Multimedia repository of over ninety-five percent of the self-instructional print material of the University have already been digitised and uploaded; 1600 video programmes are available on YouTube with the metadata link in the repository; Webcasting of Broadcast channels; Wiki for collaborative content generation; E-Learning Platform -Virtual Class; Webcasting facility for GyanDarshan I & II and GyanVani – Education Broadcast; FlexiLearn and Sakshat: A One Stop Education Portal of Ministry of Human Resource Development. She explained in detail about the IGNOU’s move towards Flexible Learning Environment.

Prof. Santosh Handa covered sessions on online courses and instructional design. A presentation started with the journey of the distance education covering its different generations, i.e., correspondence courses to intelligent flexible learning. The interactive multimedia is making steady penetration in the distance and open education courses and its advantages were discussed in detail. The online learning is catching up fast among the distance education institutions as it provides for collaborative engagement; student-student and student-tutor interaction; interactivity; more student activity; both synchronous and asynchronous interaction; instant feedback and intelligent flexible feedback. Online learning, interaction, mentoring, collaboration, knowledge construction and negotiation, assignments, evaluation and feedback, certification were various factors which were also discussed in detail during the session.

The second day started with IGNOU Pro-VC Dr K.R. Srivathsan explaining about the three modes of education which are ODL mode, online mode and regular mode. He elaborated about the Vedyadhara Open Learning Environment (VOLE) which supports the integral functioning of divisions- the regional services division, Student Registration Division, Student Evaluation Division, centres and programme coordination by the schools and centres. Ms. G.Mythili and Mr. Trivendra Singh explained the structural design and operational aspects of existing online courses running at IGNOU.

They explained all the technical aspects of Moodle and its installation. Moodle is an e-learning tool that can offer simple and safe solutions to any institution, no matter how large or small, be it an individual teacher or a huge university. Moodle facilitates online collaborations which can be teacher-to-student, teacher-to-teacher or student-to-student. The workshop provided hands on training to the participants on creating a user, creating and define assigning roles, creating a course category and a course, adding course content, adding a quiz, adding an event, creating online assignments and creating online forums. They also provided live demo and conducted hands-on practice in web-meetings and web conference through Adobe connect.

The concluding day focused on the principles of online learning by Prof. Madhu Parhar. She introduced the concept of Androgogy and Gerogogy. These concepts were new to most of the participants. She explained the various theories of learning in simple way using plenty of examples. Some of them were: Gagne’s levels of learning; Bandura’s Social learning; Bruner constructivist approach; Blooms taxonomy, Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Cognitive Development which focuses on the fact that Social Interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of Cognition.

The concluding session chaired by Prof. P. R. Ramanujam, Pro-Vice Chancellor, IGNOU and hosted by Prof. Madhu Parhar, Director In-charge, IUC, IGNOU, began with introduction of all the participants, with their experience on the training programme followed by certification ceremony. A feedback was taken from the participants of which majority were very satisfied with the programme. Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. P. R. Ramanujam, in his speech discussed about the importance of technology in education and the penetration of technology enabled education.

]]>Admission Date for MA in Gandhi and Peace Studies Extended till 31st August 2011http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/111
Click here for details ]]>Survey ranks IGNOU as best distance learning institution for 2011http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/112
A nationwide perception survey by Careers 360 magazine and Yahoo! India on Distance Learning has ranked Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) as the number 1 Distance Learning institution for the year 2011.

IGNOU, the leviathan with 500 plus programmes and 35 lakh plus students retains the pole position in India’s first-ever objective rating of Distance Learning Institutes.

Yashwantrao C. Maharashtra Open University in Nasik follows the second rank followed by IMT Distance and Open Learning Institute in Ghaziabad at the third place. Delhi University is ranked 16th place by the survey.

IGNOU also ranks first in the resources and reach of the university.

The University caters to ‘Gyanvani’ an educational FM radio network providing programmes covering different aspects and levels of education including primary and secondary education, adult education, technical and vocational education, higher education and extension education. It also has an educationally dedicated TV channel called ‘Gyan Darshan’ which broadcasts lectures by the eminent faculty members of the University thus, reaching the unreached.

Yashwantrao C. Maharashtra Open University stands second followed by U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University at third, Annamalai University at fourth and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University at fifth place. The Delhi University is ranked at the sixth position in its resources and reach.

About the research and methodology procedure followed by the magazine and the website, the magazine says that, “The Universe for Open and Distance Learning Institutes (ODLIs) in India comprises 249 institutes, out of which 188 institutes are currently offering Distance Education Programmes. Given the nature of operations of ODLIs and the lack of adequate data with the Distance Education Council (DEC) as also in the public domain, short listing of top fifty institutions was done even this year on the basis of student enrolment data. The logic is the popularity of the institutions on the basis of their admissions.”

“Careers360 then sent letters to these fifty institutions and based on the responses received from the institute as well as the data supplied by DEC, thirty-two institutes were finally chosen for ranking purpose.

Further, visits were made to all the institutes that responded as well as to select study centres of others to build a robust database.”

“The input primarily looked at the reach, infrastructure and diversity of the institutions in providing distance education. The process emphasised on the quality of resources and delivery mechanism, while output focused on the performance of the institute in facilitating the trained student in getting a better prospect.”

]]>IGNOU is just an SMS awayhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/113
Keeping in mind the huge numbers the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) caters to, the university has launched its second level of SMS alerts service enabling students who are on its rolls as well as the prospective ones to send their queries to IGNOU by SMS.

Students can SMS their queries at 9223051616. The query should be prefixed with IGNOU followed by space. For example: IGNOU What is the last date for submission of examination form?

“This development is significant as students and other stake holders of IGNOU need not access their e-mail accounts or postal services to send queries to IGNOU. The major implication of this service is for students who are residing in remote areas where the infrastructure is poor. Another lot of students who are going to benefit are those resides abroad,” said Assistant Prof. and Convener for SMS alert services, P.V. Suresh from School of Computer and Information Sciences, IGNOU.

The University is offering programmes in more than 40 countries apart from India. Students in these countries can also SMS their queries to IGNOU. The service is going to benefit all the students of IGNOU who are more than 3.5 million as well as other stake holders including prospective students.

IGNOU launched SMS alerts services on November 18th, 2008. It enabled IGNOU to communicate with its learners. Then, the facility was available at IGNOU headquarters, New Delhi and selected Regional Centres. From July 2010 onwards, the facility was made available to all the Regional Centers, Schools, Divisions, Units and Cells.

Till date, more than 1 crore SMS were sent from different departments of IGNOU to its students and other stake holders. With the launch of current SMS service, any one will be able to communicate to IGNOU using SMS.

]]>IGNOU inks pact with Aditya Birla Grouphttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/114
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has inked pact with the Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited’s owned subsidiary, Madura Fashion and Lifestyle Limited to impart necessary skills and training in garment stitching to the community members who are unemployed/ under employed and are residing mostly in the rural, suburban and disadvantaged locations.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both IGNOU and Madura Fashion and Lifestyle Limited will launch three Short Term Non Credit (STNC) courses namely: Basic Certificate in Garment Stitching for one month, Advance Certificate in Garment Stitching for two months and Advance Certificate in Garment Stitching & Quality Control for two and a half months. All of these programmes will be coordinated by IGNOU’s Regional Centre of Delhi-1 at Mohan Cooperative Estate.

The MoU was signed between University Registrar Mr U.S. Tolia and Head- Corporate Social Responsibility, Aditya Birla Group ,Mr Mr R.S. Balasubramanyam, in the presence of IGNOU Vice-Chancellor Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai in the board room of the VC’s office of the University.

The VC on the need to ink the pact said, “Many organisations are looking for trained human resources and are training them as a part of their corporate social responsibility. They require a certification which is provided by IGNOU. Learners may even want to pursue these courses at a certificate or diploma level which may be provided to them in the later stages.”

Under the MoU, Madura F&L shall enroll at least 200 students per year as per IGNOU approved eligibility conditions and conduct programmes at approved learning centres only. Mr. Balasubramanyam announced a special study center at Bangalore for the conduct of these courses.

“Certificates for all STNC programmes would be issued by IGNOU RC Delhi- I as per its standardized process and format,” said Dr. Sanjeev Pandey, Regional Director, RC Delhi-1.

“This initiative is undertaken as a part of company’s corporate social responsibility programme to actively contribute to the social economic development of the communities particularly of the marginalised sections of the society living in the rural and far flung areas. Such training would enable the individuals to have gainful employment in the industry and would also promote self employment,” said Mr. R.S. Balasubramanyam.

The company would be responsible for developing the teaching methodology for each programme based on its specific curriculum and learning objectives. It shall also provide practical and library facilities and shall also do the assignment evaluation, as per the guidelines & norms of IGNOU. A Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) would approve the teaching and training methodology. Madura F&L would accordingly organise teaching & learning as required at its centres and industry exposure through internship as per guidelines of the JCC.

]]>IGNOU ANNOUNCES ADMISSION FOR JULY 2012 SESSION http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/115
Admission process for July 2012 session of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has commenced. The university invites applications for Masters, Bachelors, Diplomas and Certificate programmes for July 2012 cycle admission.

The last date for Masters of Computer Application (MCA), Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA), Bachelor Preparatory Programme (BPP) and all certificate programmes is 15th June 2012.

For other Master degree programmes viz MA in Rural Development, Tourism Management, English, Hindi, Philosophy, Gandhi and Peace Studies, Education, Public Administration, Participatory Development, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Adult Education, Extension and Development Studies, Gender and Development Studies, Distance Education, Anthropology, M.Com., Social Work, M.Sc. in Dietetics and Food Services Management, Counselling and Family Therapy, Library and Information Science, the last date is 30th July 2012 and with a late fee of Rs 200 upto 14th August 2012.

The university also invites applications for Bachelor degree programmes like B.A. in Political Science, History, Economics, Mathematics, Public Administration, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, English, Hindi, Urdu, Tourism Studies, Social Work, Library and Information Sciences, B.Com., B.Sc. in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology and Botany, Optometry and Ophthalmic Techniques, BBA in Retailing and all diploma programmes. The last date to apply for these programmes is 30th July 2012 and with a late fee of Rs 200 up to 14th August 2012.

Students are required to purchase Students Handbook and Prospectus from Regional Centre Varanasi (GANDHI BHAWAN, B.H.U. CAMPUS, VARANASI-221005, U.P. rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in ) on payment of Rs. 100/-. Prospective Learners can also visit IGNOU website at www.ignou.ac.in for details.

IGNOU is world’s largest open university system with pan India and international reach, having flexible entry qualifications and wide range of academic programmes at affordable costs. IGNOU has diversified learner groups which learns through modular programmes, based on credit systems, developed by best brains. Programmes are multi-lingual with multiple media instructional packages. This makes IGNOU different from any other universities in Globe.

]]>Prof. M.Aslam takes charge as new IGNOU VChttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/124
The President of India in his capacity as the visitor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has been pleased to appoint Prof. Mohd Aslam, Prof. School of Continuing Education, IGNOU as the Vice-Chancellor for the period of five years.

Prof. Aslam functioned as Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU from October, 2011 to July, 2012. Earlier he was Director, SOCE, at IGNOU since January, 2009. He is Professor of Rural Development, School of Continuing Education (SOCE), IGNOU since May, 1992 and served as Director , National Centre for Innovations in Distance Education, IGNOU from Dec, 2006-Feb., 2009 and also earlier as Director, SOCE, IGNOU from May 1998-May,2001.. He served as Director (Trg) at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia & the Pacific based in Dhaka for 8 years.

Prof. M. Aslam has rich and varied experience both at national and international levels in University Administration; Distance & Continuing Education; ICT, Communication and Extension; Multi-Media in Distance Education; Training Methodology; Rural Development; Training skills; Monitoring and Evaluation; Panchayati Raj and Social Change from his 35 years career in the field, out of which he spent about 21 years as a Professor at IGNOU.

Dr. Aslam served as visiting faculty to as many as 16 institutions in India and abroad. Dr. Aslam is Fellow of the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, Washington D.C. 1986. Prof. Aslam has authored/jointly authored seven books and three book chapters.

He has been consultant to various international/ UN bodies including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, UNDP.

He has worked as a Project Director for Panchayati Raj Project, developed a Multi-Media Distance Education package for Panchayati Raj functionaries elected throughout the country. The package was introduced among 58,000 elected functionaries of Panchayats in four selected districts of Madhya Pradesh and was conferred COL President’s Award of Excellence at PAN Commonwealth Forum in March, 1999.

Dr. Aslam has M.A. in Sociology with First Division and Second Position.(1973), He got his M.Phil. in 1975 and Ph.D. (Sociology) in 1978.

]]>Prof. Mahendra P Lama takes charge as IGNOU PVChttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/125
Prof Mahendra P Lama (b 1961) is presently the Pro Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi which is the world’s largest educational institution in the arena of Open and Distance Learning. He was born in Darjeeling, the “Queen of the Hills” and grew up under the parentage of late Basantlata Lama and late RP Lama a widely known writer, social worker and an administrator. Prof Lama is the Founding Vice Chancellor of the newly established Central University of Sikkim in India created by an act of Parliament in 2007 and became the youngest Vice Chancellor of a National University in India. Sikkim University today is acclaimed as one of the best among the new set of central universities in India. He has been acclaimed for his vision, innovative management and designing of academic programmes and linking the local youth and human, natural and intellectual resources with national and global world.

Prof Lama was till very recently a Member of the prestigious National Security Advisory Board of Government of India. A product of Scots Mission Primary School and Turnbull High School in Darjeeling, he was Professor of South Asian Economies in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and also the Chairman of the Centre for South, Central, South East Asian and South West Pacific Studies in JNU. He was given the full Professorship by JNU at a relatively younger age of 39. He is presently nominated by the Government of India as a member of the Steering Committee of the coveted South Asian Forum set up by the Heads of the States and Governments in the 16th SAARC Summit in Thimphu in 2010. He also served as the Chief Economic Adviser in the Government of Sikkim with a Cabinet Minister Rank for seven years (2000-2007). He has been nominated by the President of India in the highest executive boards of various leading institutions of India including IGNOU, North East Hill University, NCERT and Hyderabad University.

Central to his intellectual pursuits is development and cooperation in South and South East Asia. While teaching economic cooperation and integration in South Asia and India’s Foreign Economic Policy, he does extensive research with distinct policy slants. He was nominated by the Government of India in the Independent Expert Group set up by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1997.

Besides authoring and editing 22 books, he has extensively worked on the issues of human security, migration, refugees, trade, investment and energy cooperation in South Asia and issues of hills and mountains. He has closely worked with the top regional institutions in South Asia. His most recent work is a book entitled "Human Security in India: Discourse, Practices and Policy Implications" ( UPL, Dhaka, 2010). His works have been published in many refereed journals and also translated into a number of foreign languages including Japanese, French and German. He has been in various Indian delegations abroad including headed by the Prime Minister.

He was Nehru-Fulbright Education Administrator’s Fellow in USA in 2011; India-China Fellow at the New School University in USA in 2008-2010; Visitor to the European Union, Brussels in 2002; and Ford Foundation Fellow at Notre Dame University in the USA in 1997. He was India’s representative in the Energy Cooperation Forum held in Indonesia and Thailand. He was also invited by the Malaysian Government in its prestigious Malaysia International Visitor Programme (MIVP) at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2007. He was also prestigious Asia Leadership Fellow in Japan in 2001; Visiting Professor in Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo 2004-2005 and Visiting Fellow in Calcutta University and headed Indian delegation of the Vice Chancellors to UK and China. He has been in the Editorial Board of a number of national and international journals.

He regularly writes in prominent national dailies in India and South Asia including Hindu, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Telegraph, Statesman, Deccan Herald, Financial Express, Patriot, Tribune, Economic Times, DNA and Indian Express. He is also frequently interviewed by the top TV (over 86 Interviews) and radio channels including BBC, NDTV, Headlines Today, Aajtak, Star, Zee, Sahara, Doordarshan and CNN-IBN, All India Radio, Voice of America, Reuter and Christian Science Monitor. He was interviewed twice in the prestigious Aaj Savere Programme of Doordarshan. He was also the Founding CEO of the South Asia Foundation, New Delhi which has its branches all over South Asian countries.

He authored First Plan of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1989, First Sikkim Human Development Report in 2001; Nathu la Trade Report in 2005 and First Economic Survey of Sikkim in 2007. He is acknowledged as the architect of the reopening of the historic Nathu la trade route between Sikkim in India and Tibet Autonomous Region in China which was reopened after 44 years in 2006.

He has been in various national committees including the one appointed by National Human Rights Commission; Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of External Affairs; Planning Commission; Ministry of Panchayati Raj; Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Development of North East Region. He was a member of the National Sixth Schedule Committee and National Steering Committee for Vision Document for the North East Region which was released by the Prime Minister in 2008. He is one of the very few academics who has extensively travelled in almost all the borderlands of India and physically done the field surveys in all the 85 Tea Gardens of Darjeeling.

He has been associated as a professional with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, USAID, Australian Aid Agency, IDRC of Canada and ICIMOD in Kathmandu and many other international organisations. He was also assigned serious task of reviewing the entire functioning of SAARC by Asian Development Bank and SACEPS since its very inception. He also wrote 100 very popular column known as “Serophero” in Nepal’s widely circulated fortnightly Himal Khabar Patrika. He also wrote an exclusive column “Ghamko khojima” in Himalaya Darpan, a popular daily newspaper published from Siliguri.

He has been associated with a number of national and international organisations including New Delhi’s prestigious India International Centre, University Grants Commission, Sahitya Academy, National Book Trust and Indian Council of World Affairs. He has delivered over 180 Special / Public Lectures in the institutions both in India and abroad including in premier global institutions like Yale University, Oxford University, Stanford University, Notre Dame University, New School University and National Defense College (NDC), to IFS/IAS probationers and a large number of Universities and other institutions. He has participated in over 260 Seminars /Conferences both in India and in 30 countries abroad. He has directed/supervised over 35 students for their M PHIL Dissertations and PH D Theses and his students today hold prestigious positions as professionals both in India and abroad.

He has also been a member of the prestigious Interviews Board for the all India Civil Services Examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and also at the state level in Public Service Commission of Sikkim. He is also a life member of a number of pioneering Nepali literary and cultural organizations in India. He has also served as the member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Hill and Mountain Development under the aegis of National Planning Commission.

A strong votary of and relentless fighter for a separate State consisting of Darjeeling District and Dooars in West Bengal, he has received a large number of awards and public felicitations including the prestigious Father Schokaert Gold Medal in 1979 and Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by St Joseph’s College in Darjeeling during its Centenary Celebration in 2007. In 2008, he was bestowed with “Ambassador for Peace” Award by United Peace Federation in the Global Peace Festival held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for his substantive and sustained contributions to promotion of cross border cooperation and integration in South Asia. He has also been in the jury of Sahitya Akademy Award and National Fellows Selection Committee of the Ministry of Culture.

He is married to Sabina and blessed with two daughters Kafal and Totola.

]]> Opportunities of Social Work Programmes launched by IGNOU for January 2014http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/126
Click here for details]]>Visit Report for organizing the awareness workshop for admission for January 2014http://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/127
Click here for details]]>27th Convocation of IGNOUhttp://rcvaranasi.ignou.ac.in/news/detail/1/128
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will hold its 27th Convocation on 16th April 2014 at the IGNOU Main Campus at Maidan Garhi for students passing in December 2012 and June 2013 Term End Examinations (TEE).

Shri Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI will be the Chief guest and deliver the convocation address and Dr. Vijitha Nanayakkara, Vice Chancellor, The Open University of Sri Lanka shall be the Guest of Honour. Prof. M. Aslam, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU will preside over the function.

The 27th convocation will be held at the Convention Centre in IGNOU’s main campus at Maidan Garhi from 02:30 P.M. to 04:30 P.M. It will simultaneously be organized at the 53 Regional Centres wherever the number of candidates attending the convocation is expected to be 100 or more.

The students have to get themselves registered for the 27th Convocation by paying Rs.400/- per degree / certificate at the convocation. Award of Gold medals to the meritorious students will be given for December 2012 and June 2013 Term End Examinations. In addition to that special awards will also be presented such as Prof. G. Ram Reddy Memorial Gold Medal, Indian Bank sponsored Gold and Silver Medals, CEMCA Cash Award, Mother Teresa Cash Award and Prof. R. K. Grover Endowment Cash Award, etc.